Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies murdered 28-year-old Nicholas Robinson on Saturday, December 12. Like the murder of Mario Woods by San Francisco police on December 2, Robinson’s execution was digitally recorded. Like Woods, Robinson was shot numerous times. Like Woods, Robinson was said to be armed with a weapon. It’s hard to see on both videos, but police say Robinson had a gun. Woods had a knife.
Standard police-speak in these instances tells us 1) when a “person” (i.e. not a cop) has a deadly weapon they are a threat to public safety and must be stopped, and 2) “police are trained to neutralize the threat,” i.e., keep shooting until the person is no longer a “threat.” The problem—one of many—is that there is an obvious disconnect between what the public feels needs to happen and what police say they are trained to do. There is also the question of context and the nature of information received by police officers. And then there’s that little thing about lying in police reports—but one thing at time.
In the Woods shooting, six to eight officers basically corner Woods as he moves slowly along the sidewalk in the Bayview section of San Francisco. All of the officers are pointing their guns at Woods, who police say stabbed someone and was carrying a six-to-eight-inch knife. It is hard to see what, if anything, Woods has in his hand. It is also hard to hear if the officers are indeed yelling commands at him to drop the knife but bus passengers, including the one who filmed the incident, are yelling at him to drop the knife.
Two shots are heard initially. San Francisco police said bean bag rounds had been deployed against Woods prior to lethal force, but we are unable to tell that from this video. As Woods continues to move along the sidewalk one officer gets directly in front of him, gun drawn and raised. Woods keeps walking. Multiple gunshots then ring out. The person recording the event is crying and screaming, having caught it all on tape. Six police officers hit Mario Woods 21 times. The question people want answered is: Why couldn’t just one of those six to eight officers attempt to subdue Woods without killing him? Why was he shot over and over again? Don’t ask why the cops lied and said that Woods lunged at them—we already know the answer to that. The graphic video of Woods’ execution can be viewed here.
Further South in Los Angeles county, the sheriff’s department received a call on Saturday that a man was firing a gun into the air.
Two deputies came across Nicholas Robinson, who they say was carrying a gun (though he is neither firing it nor aiming at them). The officers began firing at Robinson, who is walking away from them; Robinson fell to the ground and began to crawl. The sheriff’s deputies, who said that Robinson continued to hold the gun in his hand, continued to fire at him for a total of 30 times. Thirty. Their rationale was that they had to protect the public from Robinson because he was moving in the direction of a woman and children at a gas station.
In case you missed that last part, let’s run it back: Two officers firing their weapons … man crawling away from them … gas station … woman … children. Did you get all that?
The video of the two sheriff’s deputies firing at Robinson from several feet away can be viewed here. One deputy appears to be reloading his weapon.
There are so many questions that concern a few of us “civilians” in this “war.” Probably the overriding one being, why is it that basic humanity does not or cannot kick in and over take “training?” Why is it that you shoot a man several feet away from you … who is crawling away from you … several times? Why can’t one officer keep his weapon trained on the person, while another one uses some sort of Taser or baton to either immobilize the person, or remove the alleged weapon? Why are both officers so far away, yet concerned about a “threat?”
Internal investigations are currently underway in both cases.